The present invention relates to a III-nitride heterojunction power semiconductor devices.
III-nitride heterojunction power devices are well known. A typical III-nitride power semiconductor device includes a drain electrode, a source electrode and a gate electrode disposed between the drain electrode and the source electrode. The gate electrode controls the current between the source electrode and the drain electrode.
III-nitride power semiconductor devices are desirable for power applications, for example, power supply applications due their low on resistance and high breakdown voltage.
A device according to the present invention is a monolithic integrated III-nitride power device that includes a heterojunction III-nitride body having a first III-nitride layer, and a second III-nitride layer having a band gap different from that of the first III-nitride layer disposed over the first III-nitride layer, a first power electrode electrically connected to the second III-nitride layer, a second power electrode electrically connected to the second III-nitride layer, a gate structure disposed over the second III-nitride layer between the first power electrode and the second power electrode, and at least one schottky electrode in schottky contact with the second III-nitride layer.
According to one aspect of the present invention, the at least one schottky electrode is spaced from and surrounds one of the power electrodes.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the gate structure surrounds the at least one schottky electrode.
The schottky electrode may be biased to the source voltage may be biased to a different voltage or may be left floating (unbiased)
Embodiments and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.